They say the business would be an inappropriate use because it would take up scarce parking and draw rowdy patrons to the mostly single-family neighborhood near the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
Not everybody in the neighborhood agrees with that assessment, though, and both the Liquor Control Board and the Department of Design, Construction and Land Use (DCLU) could very well side with the developers.
Speaking at a recent meeting of the Queen Anne Community Council's Land Use Review Committee (LURC), Vincent Gallapaga said he and partner Randal Smith want to open a European-style bistro that will draw mostly local residents.
"People aren't drinking and driving like they used to," he said.
Called "Pies and Pints," the business will serve hard alcohol and beer, and it will have seating for 36 in the restaurant and 14 in the bar, said Gallapaga. He explained that the pies would be like the meat pies served in Australia. Hours initially would be 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Gallapaga also said that Katherine Moore, his partner's wife and a jazz singer, will perform once or twice a month in the place.
"It's really family oriented," he added. "If we wanted a nightclub, we wouldn't have moved into a neighborhood setting."
A tough sell
The plan made for a tough sell in front of a clearly skeptical crowd of project opponents at the LURC meeting. Many complained that the neighborhood is already affected for the worse by customers from the Nickerson Street Saloon, which is just a couple of blocks away from the Pies and Pints location.
"We can't park in front of our houses on Friday and Saturday night," complained Steven Dietz, who lives around 100 yards from the proposed restaurant and bar. He also said the business will increase noise levels and the danger from extra traffic in the neighborhood.
Community council member Denise Derr doesn't think a bar and restaurant should open in the spot because it is near Seattle Pacific University, a Free Methodist school that requires its students to sign a pledge not to drink or smoke. At the same time, community council member Sharon LeVine worried that SPU students might be part of the crowd going to the place.
To back that up, she cited a Nov. 20 article in the student newspaper, The Falcon, which quoted a survey this year indicating that 26 percent of the students admitted to drinking alcohol.
"Your usage is totally inappropriate for that location," LeVine said.
The prospect of live entertainment also raised red flags with the crowd. Community council member Kirk Robbins pointed to the Paragon restaurant and bar as an example of the affect live entertainment can have on the neighborhood.
"See, the Paragon lied to us," he said.
Representatives of the Paragon also spoke to the council's Land Use Review Committee before that popular night spot opened several years ago, saying it would be a fine-dining establishment with "maybe a little jazz on Sundays."
The business ended up having live music several nights a week, but Gallapaga denied he would take the same route with Pies and Pints.
"I know what the Paragon is," he said. "We don't want to be like them."
Hours at issue
Several people in the crowd also slammed the planned hours of operation.
"Those are not neighborhood hours, please," Dietz said.
Gallapaga responded that those hours are not set in stone, but he also said he didn't want to start out with shorter hours and then increase them if business warranted a change.
However, if there are not enough customers, the hours of operation would probably be shortened, he said. Dietz, who also said the business will cause parking problems, wasn't mollified.
"You are not addressing neighborhood issues; you're addressing business issues," he added with some heat.
Jim Green, who lives a couple of hundred feet from the location, said he has led the charge against the proposed business.
He also said he has mounted a petition drive that has gathered more than 50 signatures objecting to the plans. "This is just not right," he said.
Green concedes a commercial use in the space has been "grandfathered" under land-use regulations, but he wonders where the line can be drawn.
Benella Caminiti, a longtime neighborhood resident who lives a block away from the location, noted that a store was operated there for many years by the father of Gov. Gary Locke, a part-time Queen Anne resident. But Caminiti predicted a restaurant and bar would fail at the location.
The business has been vacant since last summer, Gallapaga said, adding that not everyone is opposed to the project.
"We've gotten a lot of support, too," he said of neighborhood residents who have come by to say they're excited about the idea.
LURC member Greg Bjarko said his initial reaction to the proposed project was favorable.
"It's a place I would walk to," he said. "If it really does work as a neighborhood place, the parking situation will be mitigated to a certain extent."
Liquor license considerations
Tricia Currier, a spokeswoman for the Liquor Control Board, said public sentiment is a factor that is considered before granting a liquor license to a business. At the same time, neighborhood objections are not automatic grounds for denying a license, and the Liquor Control Board also listens to the applicant, she said. "We're not going to rush into anything."
An automatic denial of a liquor license is allowed if there is a church or school within 500 feet of a proposed bar, but only if someone from either place objects to a project, Currier said.
Scott Ringgold, the DCLU staffer who is reviewing the application, said parking and noise impacts will be considered. But he also said the underlying zoning allows a restaurant and bar to be set up at the location because a commercial use was previously allowed there.
The public comment period was already extended two weeks to Dec. 4, although Ringgold said he would still take comments until the DCLU issues its decision. Ringgold can be reached at 233-3856. Assuming the DCLU approves the project, the decision can still be appealed to a city Hearing Examiner, he said.
An appeal by project opponents has to be based on strict interpretations of the land-use code, though.
"It couldn't be because they felt it was the wrong business for the neighborhood," he said.
Ringgold declined to say which way he is leaning on the land-use application for Pies and Pints.
"What I can tell you is, if there is a strong possibility of denial, we try to convince the applicant at the front end."
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